Cruinniu na mBad 2009

During the harvest time of late July and August, the coastal villages around Galway Bay celebrate their maritime tradition with races and regattas. In Kinvara, the yearly weekend event is called Cruinniú na mBád (which means a gathering of the boats in Gaelic). There are two types of traditional sailboats in Connemara - the gleoteoig and the bigger Galway Hooker - these boats were used for everything from fishing to carrying cattle, sheep and pigs to turf either across Galway Bay or from the Aran Islands.
Poor weather this year curtailed some of the events. I took these pictures on Parkmore Pier - the boats sailed out from Kinvara, turned at a buoy at Parkmore and headed back to Kinvara again.